Certified Freak Lounge: IM JAZZIER THAN YOU

Upon a friday evening, i partook in an eloquent event of pure jazz. it filled my heart with joy to witness such greatness, filling my ears that evening.

So to start off, i got in my car, and it didn't start. it just kept making these long wheezing noises. so I instead got dropped off, along with daniels, at about 6:50 near Nivara lounge. Expecting the jazz to start at 7, we figured that the timing was right. An empty lounge is what we found down those stairs. we paid 20 bucks, promised to come back, and embarked on a journey of self fulfillment. Eventually we found ourselves looping all the way around to the last place, with majority of bars not really being bars at that time, instead being open for dinner. We bought our drinks and sat down. Enjoying a nice conversation over beer and.. cider 😒... we ignored our surroundings. suddenly, the door swings wide open. a loooong looong line of customers begin charging in, all in single file line. about 25 people came through that door, and every single one of them was ordering a drink. who the hell. travels. in a group. of 25 PEOPLE? so we finish our drinks and move on back to nivara lounge.

Now i can give you the details on this place. So theres a new sign out front, strange because i swear its closing down at the end of this year. The walls are covered in stickers as you descend into the lounge. A man sits at the front door, demanding 10 dollars for the show. we had already paid, so we just entered. The bar on the left has no taps, just fridges, with these peculiar cups that curve inwards then out. On the right is a spiral staircase leading to an upstairs area I haven't checked out, with a TV attached, watching the stage. A few couches are littered there, with an old couple sitting on one and this really emo dude sitting underneath the TV, scrolling (I assume). Behind that is a mixed bag of couches, with different sizes and colours and designs, all facing towards the main stage. The main stage is littered with microphones and other devices, with a drumset and keyboard sitting, empty.

Act 1:

So we bought our drinks and sat down, waiting for the sound test to end. The old couple asked when it was going to start. I was confused, because not many people were there, so I assumed the people who were playing were backstage.

Nope, it was the old couple.

Well they ended up being a duo, with the old man playing piano and the old lady singing. They sang some very mushy, romantic songs that were really good. they even sang that one song that goes "look at me im as helpless as a kitten on a tree" that song we ALL know. After, i learnt that they only got into jazz around 10 ish years ago. They recommended that I get a sax teacher, with their son playing the third act (I assume?) and i think they have another son in hamilton boys high so thats cool, talked about some Mr mason??? Idk who that is but probably misremembering a teacher there.

Act 2:

So two guys in like their 50s/60s come up. They were hyped up to be experimental so I was excited to see what they would play. It was basically shoegaze, but not good. Basically, one guy played bass, the other played guitar, and they had this very offbeat drum sound that was a backing track to all of them. They said random stuff, used a megaphone and this alarm sound on it he would play sometimes or like start talking random stuff again. It was SO off. I dont even have a photo of these guys. But this one guy had really cool goggles, like smithing goggles

Act 3:

okay so this was an ACTUAL jazz band. No hate on the others, but this was PEAK. A drummer, pianist, bassist and saxophonist (NOT SAXIPHILE DANIELS) were all present. They sounded so good, so many amazing solos and i learnt from watching the saxophonist. These three Australian looking dudes came in, too, and sat riiiiiight up at the front. They started making song requests, which i couldnt tell if they were joking or not, but i really loved it. 10/10.